A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1)(54)

“That was my animal, I think. I don’t really remember doing it.”

“You have plenty of strength. You could use more conditioning with your animal.” He turned the key.

“And if you are going to lock me in this cursed tower every night, I need access to the library.”

He pushed the door open and shoved me inside.

“And if you don’t stop manhandling me,” I said as I stood in the room, “you’re going to be sorry.”

A grin pulled at his lips. “Is that a challenge, princess?”

His rough voice and the excitement I could see glittering in his eyes fired me up in ways I couldn’t really explain. Fear and arousal created a heady mix.

I didn’t have a reply, so I turned my back to him, waiting for him to leave.

“Strip out of your shirt, and I’ll help you out of your binding. Your lady’s maid will be…busy at present.”

I groaned in annoyance and pulled off my shirt. My face heated, and I made sure to stay still so he wouldn’t see the evidence of my embarrassment, my vulnerability. His presence moved up behind me, and a soft tug pulled at my middle as his heated breath washed over my exposed flesh.

“You didn’t get to come earlier,” he rumbled, his fingertips tracing lightly over my shoulders.

“Just another one of your torture devices, I assume.”

His touch traced down to the clasps of my binding. It tightened and then opened, falling down my chest. The breast that had still been tied up bounced down with the other. He didn’t move away. The electricity between us flowed over my skin.

I closed my eyes and felt his hands touch down on my shoulders again, kneading softly.

“You’re tense,” he whispered.

I couldn’t stop my hands from floating backward, bumping against his legs. I grabbed his thighs, craving that anchor. Something about him made me feel grounded. Despite all the shit he’d dragged me into, his presence, his smell, his possessiveness made me feel safe in a kingdom that was anything but.

“I’ve had a lot of stress lately,” I murmured.

“I checked on your family earlier tonight. They are sad for your loss, but they are well. Your village is safe, at present.”

Something hard and uncomfortable thawed within me. I let out a sigh of relief. “You spoke to them?”

“No. I watched them like a creep. I will hunt for them as soon as I can. I know that was the task you used to do.”

I ran my hands upward a bit, stopped myself, and let them drift back down.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

He skimmed his touch down the outsides of my arms. He pulled his hands away and then reached under my arms to my waist. His rough palms traced my skin, drifting across my stomach and upward. They bumped into the bottoms of my breasts as I moved my hands farther up his thighs again. He traced up my soft skin with his thumbs, inch by inch, maybe wondering if I would stop him.

I should’ve, goddess how I should’ve, but my body was blisteringly hot, and the electric sensation of his touch flowed over and through me, like lightning striking down and engulfing me in its energy.

His thumb flowed over the center of my breast. A jolt of pleasure coursed through me.

“What was I doing to you in your dream?” he asked, taking each of my nipples in his fingers and lightly pinching.

“I awoke to you between my legs.” I groaned, bending my elbows so I could work my hands higher. I stroked his upper thighs, reveling in their strength.

“Then what?” He cupped my right breast and worked the other hand back down my stomach.

I reached in, massaging his upper thighs now. Working inward. “Then you bent to lick my pussy.”

He reached down and opened the button on my pants. “It turns me on to see you in my clothes,” he said huskily. “It turns me on more when I strip you out of them.”

He pushed them down my thighs until they dropped at my feet.

“I like these lacy little panties.” With one quick yank, he tore them off me. “I think I’ll keep them.”

I stood bare in front of him. I slid one of my palms over his hard bulge.

I didn’t get it—he wanted me; he didn’t. He rejected me, then he came on to me. He touched me with such passion, and then he went cold. It was mind fuckery, and for some messed-up reason, I was excited by it. I liked the unexpectedness of it. I liked the constant need to react and adapt. I knew I could walk away at any time, and he wouldn’t push the issue. I knew he would respect my distance if I asked for it (and kept my animal under control). But right now? I was here for the challenge of it.

Or maybe I just wanted to finally get fucked. The man was a cunt-tease of the highest order.

“Spread your legs a little,” he commanded, his power blistering through me.

I moaned and did so, rubbing at his hard cock trapped in his pants.

He slid one hand back to my breast and the other lower, dipping it between my thighs. His middle finger traced through my slick wetness.

“That’s right, princess, get nice and wet for me.” He sucked in a spot on my neck, hard. A bite of pain quickly mixed with pleasure as his finger made lazy circles across my clit. “What else did I do in your dream?”

“You finger-fucked me, like you did against the tree.”

“Did you like it?”